M. Courtney Hughes (Health Services PhD ’08) received the 2024 Mid-American Conference Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success.
Hughes received the 2024 MAC award for her work as a full-time faculty member at Northern Illinois University. She said the award motivates her to “redouble my efforts to foster an environment where students can thrive.” Since joining NIU’s faculty in 2019, 25 of her 38 papers have included student authors.
Hughes expressed her gratitude for both the recognition and for her experience working with student researchers, “Witnessing those ‘aha’ moments and seeing a student’s confidence grow is so rewarding. Whether in the classroom or on research projects, facilitating students learning from one another and understanding different viewpoints is incredibly gratifying.”
Her research examines health behavior risks and disparities and seeks to enhance quality of life for seriously ill individuals and their caregivers. She has served on curriculum committees every year at NIU, and teaches courses on the U.S. health care system, funding for programs in public health, health services management, health planning, and epidemiology. As a former college athlete, she’s also NIU’s faculty athletics representative. During her doctoral studies at the University of Washington, she worked for the Health Promotion Research Center.